As with most other countries, Argentina has its own slang. The overwhelming majority of Argentine slang words actually have Italian, not Spanish origins, however, a few do have Spanish origins.
Both Spanish and Italian are among the world’s most spoken languages, with roughly 450 million and 63 million speakers respectively. Of this, 42 million people speak the Argentine Spanish dialect of Spanish.
15. Tener mala leche – Bad luck
Literally speaking, tener mala leche means “To have bad milk” in English. However, in Argentine slang, it is used to mean the same as mala suerte – bad luck.
It’s generally the sort of thing you’ll hear moms and grandmas say to their small children and grandchildren when they do things perceived to be unlucky. However, you may hear them say it to tourists if the tourists do it too.
Beware when using this one outside of Argentina however. In other parts of the Spanish-speaking world, tener mala leche is used to describe someone as having acted in bad faith, eg. making a promise they never intend to keep.
Example:
“¡No hagas eso! ¡Tiene mala leche!”
14. Bárbaro – Awesome!
If you’ve ever studied Spanish history, you’ll probably have come across the term bárbaro on multiple occasions. After all, bárbaros used to inhabit Spain before the Romans, and have tried to conquer it on several occasions since!
Literally speaking, a bárbaro is a “Barbarian” or even, a “Caveman”. However, Argentine teenagers in particular use it in a completely separate way: to mean “Awesome!”
A word of warning when using this outside of Argentina. Many people who live in the countries around Argentina understand the meaning of bárbaro in Argentina.
However, in other Spanish speaking countries, it is a pejorative term similar to “heathen” in English. It’s not a swear word per se, but if used in the wrong context, will land you in a bit of trouble.
Example:
“¡Vamos a Disneyworld!”
“¡Bárbaro!”
13. Mandar fruta – Beating around the bush
We’ve all met been in that one situation where we just keep on getting sent on a wild goose chase. One party is always trying to buy time, whether intentionally or not. In Argentina, they would describe this as mandar fruta.
Literally speaking mandar fruta means “To send fruit”. However it’s generally used to describe when someone is giving you the run around. It is used very similarly to how “beating around the bush” is used in English.
Depending on the context, some Argentines may also use it as an insult, to call out foreigners who are trying (and failing miserably) to speak Spanish. Although, this is very rare.
Example:
“¡Ay Bendito! ¡Esta compañía telefónica mandame fruta!”
12. Boludo – Dude
Spanish is one of the most diverse languages on the planet. In almost every dialect of the language, there is a different word for a close amigo. In Peru, it’s pata, in Colombia, it’s parcero, in Argentina, it’s boludo.
Boludo (or boluda if it’s a girl) actually has several uses. Most commonly, it is used to address or describe a very close amigo (where no other word can describe them). This can also be used to say hi, to those close amigos of your.
However, it can also be used as an insult, roughly equivalent to the English word “Jerk” or occasionally, “Idiot”. This latter use is more common in the rougher streets of Buenos Aires, rather than in the rest of Argentina.
Example:
“Hola buldo ¿Que pasa?
11. Mango – Money
If you’ve ever spent any time in Argentina, you probably heard at least a few people talk about mango. No, they aren’t talking about fruit, but they’re actually talking money.
In Spanish, mango still means “Mango” in English. However, whilst it is still used for that in Argentina too, it is more commonly used as a slang term for money, similarly to “Buck” in American English or “Quid” in British English.
The term originates from Spanish colonialism. The Spanish used the silver mined in Argentina to make silver coins that would be shipped around their empire. To many of the natives, these coins resembled mangos.
After long enough, mango was synonymous with money.
Example:
“¿Cuanto tienes alli?”
“Dos mangos”
10. Chabón / Chabóna – Guy / Girl
In much of the rest of the Spanish-speaking world, the words tipo and tipa are slang terms used to describe a guy or a girl. The Argentine slang word for a guy or a girl, on the other hand, is chabón or a chabóna.
For the most part, chabón(a) is used to describe a guy or a girl that you know, just not very well. They aren’t a good friend, but you’d still sit and have a drink with them if you/they offered.
In certain areas of Argentina, the locals may also spell it as chabon and chabona, without the accent on the “o”. This is simply a regional thing, with certain areas preferring one over the other!
Example:
“Che chabóna ¿que estas haciendo?”
9. Quilombo – Disaster
We’ve all been there. We’ve spent months, maybe even years working on something that in a few seconds has crumbled in front of us, erasing those months/years worth of hard work.
Or, we’ve seen something and have said “Wow, that looks like a bomb site!”
In English, we’d use one of several words to describe them, depending on the severity of the disaster / mess. In Argentina, they use one word to describe it all, from “meh” to “the world is ending”. Quilombo.
From my experience, just about everyone, regardless of their wealth or status will use this one. If you live in the same area as many small children, or near them, you’ll often hear parents telling their children how much of a quilombo their bedroom(s) is/are!
Example:
“¡Qué quilombo!”
8. Medio pelo – Mediocre
We’ve all been there. We’ve heard all this hype over something, only to find that when we get there, it wasn’t as good as it was made out to be. In Argentine slang, they’d call it medio pelo.
Literally speaking, medio pelo translates as something along the lines of “medium length hair”. However, in Argentine slang, medio pelo is used to mean something along the lines of “Mediocre” or even “Disappointing”.
From my personal experience, you’ll often hear medio pelo outside of restaurants, especially ones that have had a lot of hype around them in previous weeks. Generally, if you hear it, it wasn’t worth doing it.
Example:
“¿Cómo encontraste a Carlos Pizza?”
“Es medio pelo”
7. Laburo – Day job
Humans have been working “jobs” for as long as humans have been living in collective groups. As such, there is a lot of slang in every language and dialect, pertaining to jobs. Argentine slang is no different.
Perhaps the most common is laburo, literally translating as “Labor”. In Argentine slang, it still carries the same sort of meaning, albeit to describe your day job- where traditionally, you did manual labor.
Studies have shown that around 85% of people in the US, hate their job. In Argentina, the figure is slightly less, albeit not by that much more. As such, you’ll likely hear this used in negative ways, usually with cursing involved too!
Example:
“Odio mi laburo”
6. Cheto / Cheta – Rich
In Argentina, there is a great disparity between the richest in society and the poorest, perhaps even more so than in other countries. As such, it should probably come as no surprise that the Argentines have their own slang for rich people!
The term cheto (or cheta in the feminine form!) has it origins in Italian. Here, poor Italian immigrants would come to Argentina for a better life. Many of them would find that better life, and become quite rich.
To many of the Argentine-born citizens, these Italian immigrants who built a better life, possessed a certain level of class, that they did not. In Italian, the word for class is cheto. And hence, cheto became synonymous with “rich” in Argentina.
Example:
“¿Has visto a Ernesto? ¡Es realmente cheto!
5. Rocho / Rocha – Poor
On the other end of the spectrum, Argentine Spanish has rocho or rocha, used to mean “Poor”. Generally speaking, you’ll hear both used in the same sentences and are often used to compare two things to one another.
Whilst cheto and cheta have their origins in Italian, rocho and rocha have their origins in Portuguese. Here, rocho literally translates to mean “rock” and goes back to a time when Portuguese people came to Argentina, where they used rocks as money.
From here, the Italian-Spanish settlers who lived in Argentina mocked them for being poor. Eventually, they took the Portuguese word for rock, rocho and used that as somewhat of an insult to describe something as “Poor”.
Example:
“No me gusta Lucia ella es rocha”
4. ¡Mirá vos! – WOW! Really?
We’ve all met that one person who just says the most obvious things. For example, they’ll tell you that water is wet, or the sun is warm or that Argentina is actually in South America.
In English, we’d usually turn around to that person and make some sarcastic comment about their intelligence or the like. In Argentina, they don’t really have sarcasm, at least, not in the same way that English does.
Nevertheless, ¡mirá vos! is about as sarcastic as Argentine Spanish gets.
Literally, ¡Mirá vos! translates as “Look!” but would be used more in the sense of “Would you look at that?!” at an overly sarcastic tone. Alternatively, it could be used to mean “Really?!” similarly in a sarcastic tone.
Example:
“El agua es mojada”
“¡Mirá vos!”
3. Forro – Idiot
Chances are that you’ve heard of the term gringo. In much of South America, it is the go-to way of insulting people. Argentina, on the other hand, does not have gringo, instead, they use forro to mean the same…
Literally speaking, forro translates as “Cover” or “Lining” or in some contexts, “Skin”. However, Argentine teenagers have reinvented it somewhat to be a minor insult.
If someone is annoying you, wasting your time or just generally doing anything that upsets you, they’re a forro. Depending on the tone, it may also be used in the same way some English swear words might.
Example:
“¿Por qué sigue aquí este forro?”
2. Volá – F*** Off!
Literally speaking, volá is synonymous with flying in Spanish, with volá coming from the Spanish verb volar (meaning “To fly”). In Argentine slang, it does still (sort of) keep this meaning.
Instead of it meaning “To fly” it means “Go away” as in, “Fly away and never (ever) come back!” With that being said, it is more commonly translated to mean something stronger and a bit more vulgar in English.
However, a word of warning with this one: be careful when using it. For many Argentines, an Argentine using it is bad enough, but a foreigner, especially someone who speaks English, it may be taken that you are misusing their beautiful language!
Example:
[Doing something annoying or mildly aggressive]
“¡Volá!”
1. ¡Che! – Hi!
If che seems familiar, it’s probably because it is. After all, famed Argentine communist (and Cuban revolutionary) Che Guevara’s nickname of “Che” originated due to him using the Argentine slang word so much!
The term che has its origins in Italian, a word meaning “that”. There are several stories about how it became so common in Argentine slang, but in reality, none of them are definitive.
In reality, Argentines use ¡che! the same way that we use “Hi” or “Hey!” in English. Che is used to both get someone’s attention to ask them a question, or just to greet a good friend of yours!
Example:
“¡Che! ¿Has visto a mi perro? ¡Ella escapó!”
Which are your favorite Argentine slang words? Tell me in the comments!